Davis

I.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL

BACKGROUND

Ramsey is an attorney with an office in Oakland. Davis provided services for Ramsey (mostly courier and process-server tasks) from April 2006 to March 2012 under the business name “RJ Attorney Support Services.com.” Davis submitted invoices for his services, and Ramsey paid them. Although he never received a salary and did not raise the issue while he was providing his services, Davis later claimed that Ramsey had promised to pay him a $5,000 monthly salary. He filed a claim with the Labor Commissioner in February 2013 alleging he was owed $130,000 in wages, $1,384.80 in vacation pay, and other damages.

1 Attorney Margaret Tormey, a contract attorney for Ramsey’s law offices, represented Ramsey in the proceedings before the Labor Commissioner. Davis objected to this representation, claiming that Tormey had a conflict of interest because he previously had been a client of Tormey’s. Tormey explained that at one point she had a brief conversation with Davis when he asked her questions about the loss of the use of his car, but she provided only limited information and did not believe she had represented him. The hearing officer ruled that there…